Botala.] LVIII. LYTHRACE2E (HIERN). 467 



Upper Guinea. Senegal, fl. September to February, Perrottet ! fl. January, Roger ! 

 Bidjem ! 



Grows in low inundated places. 



2. R. tenella, Hiern. Stem low, creeping at base and rooting, 

 scarcely 3 in. long-. Leaves sessile, amplexicaul, obscurely veined, ovate- 

 oblong, rounded at apex. Flowers minute, subsessile. Calyx cam- 

 panulate or hemispherical, with 4 acute deltoid lobes, not accrescent nor 

 cornuate. Petals white, scarcely exceeding- the calyx, very deciduous. 

 Stamens 4, included, inserted above the base of the calyx ; filaments 

 concealed in the longitudinal depressions of the ovary. Ovary ovoid, 

 4-sulcate, 4-celled; style short. Capsule globose, dehiscing at the 

 apex by 4 valves, enclosed in the persistent calyx. Seeds somewhat 

 concave on one side, convex on the other. — -Ammannia tenella, Guill. et 

 Perr. Fl. Seneg. i. 297. Ameletia tenella, Bl. Mus. Bot. ii. 136. 



Upper Guinea. Senegal, Perrottet I fl. Sept. and Oct. 



3. R. verticillaris, Linn. ; DC. Prod. iii. 76 ; Wight. Ic. ii. t. 260. 

 Prostrate, rooting and branched at the base, 1-4 in. long. Leaves 

 3 or 4 in a whorl, or in var. /3 often opposite, linear or subulate, 1- 

 veined, spreading, 1-4 in. long. Bracts subulate. Calyx campanulate, 

 small, scarious, with 5 deltoid acute short lobes, not accrescent, without 

 cornua. Petals wanting or caducous. Stamens 3-5 (?), arising from 

 the base of the calyx-tube and exserted. Ovary 3-celled, or 1 -celled by 

 abortion of the thin septa ; stigma subsessile. Capsule dehiscing by 

 3 valves from apex. — Ammannia Rotala, F. Muell. Fragm. iii. 108. 



Scattered over the tropics of the whole world. 



Var. jS. Spruceana. Leaves usually opposite, occasionally 3 in a whorl, subulate. 

 Plant small. Hypobrichia Spruceana, Benth. in Hb. Spruce ; cf. B. pusilla, Tul. in 

 Ann. Sc. Nat. ser. 4, vi. 128 (1856). 



Upper Guinea. Niger, Barter! 



Lower Guinea. Angola, Pungo Andongo, 2400-3800 ft. alt., fl. and fr. March. 

 (Var. /3) Dr. Welwitsch! 



4. R. decussata, DC. Prod. iii. 76. Much branched, 1J-9 in. 

 long, usually spreading. Leaves elliptic oblong or linear, varying ac- 

 cording to dampness of locality, narrowed or rounded at the base, 

 sessile or subsessile, blunt, spreading, T V-J in- long. Bracts subulate 

 at base of calyx. Flowers sessile, solitary. Calyx scarious, with 4 del- 

 toid lobes and longer aristate caducous cornua, not accrescent. 

 Petals 4 or 0. Stamens 4 (?), equalling the calyx. Ovary 3-celled ; 

 style short. Capsule 3-valved, exceeding and tearing the calyx ; placenta 

 compressed, 3-winged. — Rotala Roxburghiana, Wight. Ic. t. 260, var. 

 Ammannia nana, Roxb. Fl. Ind. i. 427. A. illecebroides, Arn. in Wight. 

 Hb. 2317. A. pentandra, Roxb. Fl. Ind. i. 427, var. 



Iaower Guinea. Angola, Pungo Andongo, 2400-3800 ft. alt., fl. and fr. March, 

 Dr Welwitsch! 



Occurs also in India and Australia. 



5. R. stagnina, Hiern. Stem simple or subsimple, erect, about 

 4 in. high, rooting at base, quadrangular. Leaves ovate-oblong, blunt 



